The South Dakota Republican Party convention could have been split by disagreement over Common Core. Instead, delegates rose above the potential squabbles and wrote their platform based on principle, not hotbed issues.
Different delegates had different opinions of how to combat Common Core: “The party’s 2012 platform opposed adopting any additional Common Core standards, but some activists said they wanted the platform to go further and call to abandon Common Core altogether.”
Tony Venhuizen, spokesman for the governor, expressed what everyone could agree on: “We are concerned about federal intrusion into education, and we support giving state government and especially local decision-makers the ability to run our schools.” And that’s what their platform reflects.
This was a great example of finding common ground in principles, and not giving way to division by issues. We hope Citizens for Self-Governance can do the same to unite citizens of this great nation, to work together to restore government that is truly “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”